Good Cover Letter Examples Australia Post

The covering letter should outline your reasons for applying and demonstrate broadly how you meet the requirements of the position.

It is normally the first thing the selection panel will read. It is important that the covering letter looks good, sounds positive and enthusiastic, and attracts the reader's attention. It is also one way of demonstrating your written communication skills.

What to include

Typed or handwritten

Positive tone

Examples

What to include

It is recommended that you include the following information in your covering letter:

Your address

Date of your application

Title and reference number of the position for which you're applying

Indication of what is included in your application; for example, résumé, statement addressing the selection criteria (optional), written references (optional), and the like.

Statement of why you are interested in the position and what particularly attracts you about the job, the work area.

One or more paragraphs outlining broadly how you meet the requirements of the position and selection criteria. This may include highlighting the most relevant skills or abilities you can bring to the position, your familiarity with the workplace/job requirements, any relevant personal qualities or attributes, and the benefits of employing you.

Optional - examples of how you meet one or more of the selection criteria. See Addressing the selection criteria for more information.

How and when you can be contacted if required to attend an interview.

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Typed or handwritten

There are different views about whether the covering letter should be typed or handwritten.

In general a typed letter looks better presented, neater and easier to read, so if you have access to a computer, it is probably a good idea to provide a typed covering letter.

If you do decide to produce a handwritten letter, make sure it is legible, neat and easy to read.

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Positive tone

All of your written application needs to sound positive and enthusiastic. This is particularly important with your covering letter, since this is the first document a selection panel will read. How you phrase things and the words you use can convey either a positive or a negative message to the selection panel.

Try to avoid saying what you can't do; avoid phrases such as:

'I don't have any experience in ....'

'My knowledge of .... is limited'

or words such as:

unfortunately

only

quite.

Use of such words and phrases may convey a negative message to the selection panel that you either do not have the necessary skills and experience, or that you lack self-confidence.

Instead, focus on positive statements, such as:

'I have experience in ....'

'My knowledge of .... includes ....'

and words such as:

very

several

many

good/excellent.

Such positive words and phrases convey to the selection panel that you do have the skills and experience, and that you have confidence in your own abilities.

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Examples

If possible, keep your covering letter to a single page. Too much information, especially if it is not relevant to the job, may detract from the letter. Your statement addressing the selection criteria is the place to give more detailed information about yourself and your ability to do the job.

The examples of covering letters include:

A pro-forma letter highlighting the types of information that could be included in a letter

how a covering letter for a particular University vacancy might look.

a cover letter example for an Administrative Assistant role.

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Get Some Inspiration from Our Cover Letter Examples

This page provides some great cover letter examples, which may help you to write your own cover letter, or help you to consider using our professional cover letter writing services.

Best Cover Letter Template

The best cover letter template will follow our recommended cover letter layout, if you would like to create your own cover letter, we also suggest you check out10 Steps for writing a cover letter.

Your cover letter is like a professional sales proposal to market your skills, knowledge and experience in the best possible light. Your prospective employers want the cover letter to be tailored to the job advertisement they have open.

View our other Cover Letter Examples:

Check out our Cover Letter tips within our Vault:

If you’re interested to know more about cover letters, here are some more useful links:

Best Cover Letter Templates

The best cover letter template will follow our recommended cover letter layout, if you would like to create your own cover letter, we also suggest you check out10 Steps for writing a cover letter.

Your cover letter is like a professional sales proposal to market your skills, knowledge and experience in the best possible light. Your prospective employers want and demand for the cover letter to be tailored to the job advertisement they have open.

Timely Tip – If you’re scouting around the web picking up ideas on how to write your cover letter, we’d strongly recommend that you dramatically change anything you copy from the Melbourne Resumes website, as there’s a good chance that other candidates have copied from exactly the same cover letter samples and resume templates.

You don’t want to come across as looking like every other candidate……so write in your own style or contact Melbourne Resumes on 1300 979 890 for quote. Our cover letter writing services start from just $150 for a high quality professional cover letter.

Employers see it as a dead give away if you have just used a generic cover letter to send your resume in. It screams that you aren’t that interested, but you thought you better send in a job application, just in case.

Many candidates overlook the importance of the cover letter, and just send out one generic cover letter to every job they apply for. This is a big mistake that may be costing them dearly. Don’t be like the herd of people that are generally lazy!

You cover letter needs to be presented in the same format that your resume or CV is formatted. We suggest you use open block format and use a professional and narrative writing style.

Your opening statement should grab the attention of the reader immediately within the first sentence. It should speak to the reader and tell them exactly why you are the ideal person for the job.

It should address each of the criteria listed in the job advert or in the job description, so the recruiter and/or hiring manager can clearly see that you have taken the effort to articulate exactly why you are definitely worth an interview.

Finally, a great cover letter will ensure that your resume is not only read but read in the best possible context, draw attention to the most relevant parts of your resume and make it clear why you should be interviewed!

Take the time to tailor your cover letter, or have a professional cover letter written for you.

If the job is worth applying for, then it’s worth writing a letter to tell them why you believe you are the best candidate for the job.

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